BARNSTABLE – The county's legislative branch has sent a letter to state energy regulators to distance itself from actions by Cape Light Compact officials.

On Wednesday the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates voted to have Speaker Ronald Bergstrom send a letter stating that the board “has not and will not endorse the actions or opinions of the Cape Light Compact or their counsel, BCK Law, PC, as it relates to their refusal to comply with the Office of the Attorney General's information requests.”

The compact has declined to provide information to Attorney General Martha Coakley's office as part of a review of an update to its aggregation plan, its founding document.

The compact was formed in 1997 to buy power in bulk for electric customers on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, provide energy-efficiency programs for local businesses and residents, and advocate for ratepayers. Compact officials insist they are willing to provide whatever information the Attorney General requests and post it on the compact's website but that it falls outside the scope of the review of its aggregation plan.

The attorney general has questioned whether a charge on compact customers' bills is a fee or an illegal tax but the state Department of Public Utilities has consistently found that such questions are outside of the scope of its review and other, similar, proceedings.

Compact officials and supporters have characterized the dust up as a turf war between the attorney general and the DPU, based on long-standing attempts by the attorney general's office to secure authority over municipal aggregations like the compact.

Critics of the compact and its financial ties to another regional agency -- Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, formed in 2007 to pursue renewable energy projects – have seized on the aggregation plan update to push for more information about the relationship. The assembly has previously battled with the compact over its own requests for information.

Also this week, Chatham's Board of Selectmen balked when its appointed representative to the compact voted in favor of not providing the requested information to the Attorney General. The board voted 3-1 at its regular Tuesday meeting to send a letter to her office supporting its right to the information.

And on Wednesday the DPU and compact officials met to discuss suggestions for revisions to the updated aggregation plan.